My fave Christmas Cliff single was 'Little Town' from '82. We won't get that on BBC4 as it features on a Yewtree'd edition. 'Saviour's Day' is the one I can't bear to listen to.

It was good to see the second version of Irene Cara's video (rather than the one on Thursday that appeared to be cut directly from the show), one of the standout number one of the 80s, alongside 'Eileen' the standouts on the Friday show... after some drivel beforehand... that Japan cover in particular sounded so poor - like a very poor man's Duran Duran tribute band.

Thursday's edition highlight was probably Shalamar and Jeff Daniels dancing again, even though not as good as his previous appearance... and that bizarre Da Da Da - the guys looked like they'd just come out of some East German prison* on day release!




*other international prisons are available.

Mistletoe and Wine is one of the superior Xmas songs for me, and another of those you can't help but sway along to...

Re: the lead singer of Trio. Have to agree, he gave me the creeps back in '82 and I realised he still does today. Sgt Rock posted something similar.

"Bible Basher on the 45" as someone at school thought the Cornershop song went XD. Though we're currently 16 years behind that point at the moment!

I thought he was pointing to Michael Hurll up in the producer's gallery. Otherwise known as God.

There is a really good video of Videotheque on youtube by a funky muppet. They use cd quality sound but seem to have remixed the video from a later TOTP showing, as it has the video from Fridays TOTP on screen in the background.

Yes, i have to agree, although i don't mind the odd song ("Ghosts" has been a highlight of these recent 1982 repeats, for me). However, i find it difficult to sit through Japan's 'Adolescent Sex' album - talk about pretentious drivel!

This week's number one single 'Fame' is over-familiar to us, but the melody and lyrics of the verses (rather than the chorus) with Irene Cara's voice are what makes it. On hearing those for the first time, you instantly knew it was an excellent song!

Yes, Little Town is very much overlooked in favour of the later Mistletoe and Wine, and the latter is much better remembered. I wonder if Little Town ever featured on those compilation Christmas albums as you don't hear it as much during the Christmas period while shopping as some of the other festive pop standards that seem to be on those records.
I also much prefer it to Mistletoe and Wine.

The first half of the 1982 has been very Germanic hasn't it, what with Kraftwerk, Nicole and Trio. What relevance has the Russian lyric 'Da, Da, Da' to the song though? Shouldn't it be 'Ja, Ja, Ja'-- but then that wouldn't make much sense in terms of the negative tone of the rest of the song.
A simple little song but an infectious earworm that deserved to be a hit.

I have seen it & shared it on my Facebook and Twitter pages.

I find the usual Fame video very annoying, I reckon if I was a motorist & a bunch of posers in leg-warmers congregated in the road holding me up from driving to where-ever I was going then I'd put my foot on the gas - no more dancing for them.

Has Craig Fairbrass been kidnapped?

A big outfit improvement for Therese - that string vest thing was awful.

Captain Sensible - although the lyrics and the subtitles say "I'm a lucky cuss", you can clearly hear it's not quite "cuss" he sings...

Yes, thank God. Last seen about a month and a half ago in 1982 weekly Top of the Pops terms. They must have had a clear out and roped in some new cheerleaders.

Totally agree, there would've been a flurry of pink tutus and furry legwarmers floating to the floor if a couple of hundred drama students started poncing around in the road... wouldn't be so much jaywalking, as jayflying over the bumper...

I didn't remember just how cosily the BBC had been with Fame, with these blatant advertisements for the show and records on TOTP... that was so cringeworthy when hairy Bruno was banging on about going out and buying more records, as he got money from 'mechanical royalties'...

You forgot the best German group of them all:- The Goombay Dance band!!! - How could you overlook such talent so quickly, after that marvellous No 1 single?!!!

So I did. I never tend to assume that they are German. They strike me as a multi-nationality/multi-racial group. Don't know if they are all German born.
I actually liked this song at the time!

It was one of the best of 1982 - but there were a couple of duffers in there.
Plenty of quality dance music for me, including 2 of my favourites from the entire year : Imagination and Odyssey.

What made you think that Scott?
Too bloody predictable, me!

Loved it , although at the time I was indifferent to 'Da Da Da'.
I think it has stood the test of time quite well.
The performance by Trio was also entertaining.

Totally agree. ISWAK was miles better than I recall.
Enjoyed it enough to add it to my pod.
Surprisingly good start to this edition.

It sounds like something from1976.
Shocking 45 from Harold.